


Now or Never

by hardbroken17



Category: Back to the Future (Movies), Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Back to the Future Fusion, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Good Friend Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Idiots in Love, Julie is a time traveler, M/M, Protective Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Slow Burn, Soft Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Soft Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardbroken17/pseuds/hardbroken17
Summary: Julie looses her boys to Caleb, after waking up the night after the Orpheum, realizing that her saving the boys was all a dream, she actually went up to bed originally, and dreamed the final scene, where she saved the guys.Then, Marty McFly shows up with the  DeLorean in her driveway...
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Marty McFly and Julie, Marty McFly and Luke Patterson, Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms) & Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 26





	1. Hello

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know why I’m writing this, but here we are...

Julie Molina went to bed, so sure that the next morning, she would run into the studio the next morning, and find her boys there. When she woke up the next morning, she had a bright smile on her face, ready to see her boys, and tell Luke how she felt.   
Julie ran down the stairs, her sweatshirt hardly hanging on her shoulders, as she threw the studio doors open, and looked around, expecting to see Luke on the couch, his notebook in his hands, a guitar pick inbetween his teeth, Alex either playing with his drumsticks, or pacing, and Reggie plucking the brings of his bass. 

“Luke, Alex, Reggie, I what?” She stopped, and saw that the studio was empty, her boys were not here, and instead, Luke’s notebook was on the piano, his favorite pick on top of it, and Alex’s drumsticks next to it, and piece of lined paper tucked into the pages of the notebook.   
Julie walked to the piano, and touched Luke’s notebook, and opened it, to the page, that was marked by the lines paper. It was a note, written in Luke’s messy handwriting, and signed at the bottom, with Reggie and Alex’s signatures.   
  
“ _Dear Julie,_

_By the time you read this, the guys and I will no longer exist. The Orpheum turned out not to be our unfinished business , and we can’t come back from that. I never got to tell you this before, and I didn’t have the heart to wake you up, but I have to say it somewhere. I love you Julie Molina, I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, and I treasured the time I got to spend with you, even if I ended up being destroyed in the end. Please never forget me, and whenever you play this song, remember how much I loved you, and our time together. Alex and Reggie love you too, and we will always be with you, wherever you go, and whatever you do.  
I love you,   
Luke, Reggie, and Alex”_

Julie put the note down, on the piano, and picked up Luke’s notebook, a song written in, that looked so familiar to her, it was Perfect Harmony.   
She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she read her own lyrics in Luke’s messy handwriting. Julie ran her fingers over the words that Luke had written, her tears coming down her cheeks harder, until she was sobbing, and sinking down, on the floor.   
Julie was in so much anguish, that she didn’t hear loud cracking, from behind, and a bright flash in the driveway, and footsteps coming to the studio, car noises slow and small, as Julie tried to get control of her breathing, her hands to her chest.   
“Hey, are you ok?” Julie whirled around and gasped, at the teenage boy behind her, making out soft brown hair, and bright eyes through her tears, her face shining. 


	2. Who are you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie meets Marty, and he agrees to help her get her boys back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marty is like Carlos in this, but still the Marty that we know and love from the movies.  
> Expect classic Marty lines.

Julie stumbled to her feet, her tears clouding her vision as she choked out words, hardly even speaking.  
“Luke?” She squeaked and the boy in front of her shook his head, scratching the back of his head, below his hairline.  
“No, um people call me Marty.” He said and Julie looked down, and wiped the tears out of her eyes, and looked back up at Marty, and took him in clearly.  
He was dressed similar to the boys, but way different. He wore a pair of high waisted jeans, a red t-shirt, and a pair of beaten up white Nikes, with the red logo on the side, that were clearly vintage. His soft brown hair was all messy, and framed his face, not like Luke’s had, it was similar to his. He had soft blue eyes, and smiled brightly at Julie.  
“I’m Marty McFly. Who are you, and when am I?” He asked and Julie raised her eyebrows at him, her eyes still red.  
“I’m Julie. Julie Molina. You’re in my driveway and this is the year 2020.” She said and Marty looked around him. Julie looked closer at the boy, and began to get suspicious.  
“Why are you asking what year it is? Are you a time traveler or something?” She asked and Marty looked back at her.  
“Why? And how did you get that idea into your head?” He asked and Julie just smirked at him, crossing her arms.  
“Well, if the car with weird gadgets all over it was any hint, so were your clothes, and I have experience with time confused teenage boys.” She said and Marty raised his eyebrows at her, looking to the car.  
“How is that possible? Doc is the only one to invent time travel.” He said and Julie shook her head at him.  
“No time travel involved with my boys. They died in 1995, when they were seventeen, and went into a dark limbo for 25 years, until I played their demo, and they came back.” She said and Marty looked intrigued.  
“That’s cool, are they here?” He asked, looking around the studio, and Julie shook her head solemnly.  
“No, they got destroyed by another ghost, a magician named Caleb, who wanted their powers to belong to him. They thought that playing at the Orpheum was their unfinished business, so that they could complete it and cross over. We all performed there last night, but turns out that it wasn’t, and they were destroyed in their studio after I went to bed last night.” Julie said and her tears surfaced again, she wiped them out of her eyes.  
“Wow Julie, that is pretty heavy.” Marty said, and the fifteen year old girl nodded, and looked back at Marty.  
“So why are you here?” She asked and Marty shrugged his shoulders, rubbing the back of his neck.  
“Well, I thought that the time circuits were set for 1985, cause I was visiting my Doc Brown and his family, in 1885, but I accidentally ended up in 2020 instead.” He said and Julie raised her eyebrows at him.  
“Then why did you show up in my driveway?” She asked.  
“We were hiding the DeLorean a few miles away from the settlement that Doc and his family were visiting, and this is just where the DeLorean hit 88miles per hour.” He said and Julie nodded her head.  
“Ok, I vaguely understand that.” She said and looked over at Marty, and the car, that she could only assume was a time machine. Then, an idea popped into her head. She knew that it was stupid, dangerous and incredibly reckless, but she had to try.  
“Hey Marty, can this thing travel anywhere in time?” She asked and Marty nodded his head to her.  
“Where are you going with this Julie?” He asked and Julie sighed, rubbing her shoulder, before she looked back at him.  
“My boys died in 1995. But what if they didn’t die in 1995? What if I traveled back in time, and stopped them from dying?” She asked and Marty shrugged his shoulders.  
“Not a bad idea, but it is dangerous to meddle with time. I almost was erased from existence when I traveled back to 1955, and almost made my seventeen year old mother fall in love with me instead of my dad. Doc says that we shouldn’t meddle with time.” He said and Julie gave him a groan.  
“Marty, my boys are dead, and they don’t exist anymore. I don’t have anything else to lose if I go back in time, and try to save them. I know exactly how they died, where they died, when they died, and how to get there. Please help me? I love them.” She said and Marty sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck.  
“Ok fine. Let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marty is nice, and Julie is desperate.  
> Of course Marty agrees to help Julie.


	3. Wow this is heavy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marty gives Julie a time travel lesson, and they go back to 1995.  
> What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am a huge Back to the Future nerd, and am sure that I know every line back to back, so expect my quality DeLorean-ing.
> 
> We get some actual time travel...

When Marty agreed to help her, Julie's heart soared. She was doing it, she was actually given that chance to take, and save her boys. Reggie, who's bright smile and bubbly personality lit up her whole day. Alex, who always was there for her, when she needed to talk, sweet, anxious, and adorable Alex. And then, there was Luke, who Julie loved, and who's smile always made her feel at home. His voice, his music, his heart, all things that Julie knew she needed to save. She smiled at Marty, and pulled her sweatshirt closer. 

"Thank you so much Marty, you have no idea what this means to me." Julie said and Marty merely smiled at her, as he motioned Julie to follow him, over to the DeLorean, and opened the hood, to reveal that there was no engine inside, but a lot of other stuff. Inside the compartment, Julie could clearly make out a yellow radiation suit and helmet, a bottle of chloroform and rags, a suitcase, a black and red video camera from the 80's, a silver briefcase, which Marty was picking up, out of all the stuff inside the hood. 

"What's all that for?" Julie asked and Marty turned his head to her, before he clicked the briefcase open. Inside, Julie was amazed to see that there was money, from different points of history, the 50's, the 20's, even the 1800's. She raised her eyebrows at Marty, who had his head down, and hands flitting over the many stacks in the briefcase. 

"Rule one of time travel: Always be prepared. I don't know where Doc got the money, but frankly, I'm a little too afraid to even ask him. Now come on Julie, let me show you how the DeLorean works." Marty said as he pulled a wad of dollars out of the briefcase, handing them to Julie, who turned them over, seeing that the bills were dated as 1994 tens and fives. She followed Marty, around the DeLorean and got into the side door, sitting in the gadget filled car with all kinds of modifications all over it, different things where original things should be. 

"Ok, so I know it looks really complicated, but I promise you that it's pretty easy to work, when you understand how it works, so first you turn the time circuts on." He said, and reached down, to where Julie was sure that the emergency break was, and turned a red lever switch from horizontal, to vertical. He then pointed to where the radio would be. 

"This here is probably the most important part about the DeLorean. This green dial tells you where you're going, this yellow one tells you where you are, and this red one tells you where you were. You then put the destination time into this keypad, so in instance for us, we want to go to?" Marty trailed off, and Julie whipped out her phone, and googled the month and day, that the boys died, thankful that Marty didn't ask questions, and merely side eyed what Julie was doing. Since he was a time traveler Julie figured that he was used to seeing weird things that were out of his timeline. When the webpage loaded, and Julie saw the familiar article about the boys deaths, that she googled when she first met them. 

"Ok, they died on June 17th, 1995. The article says that the ambulance got there at eleven and by then, they were already choking, so to be safe we should go back about..." Julie trailed off, as Marty typed in the destination time into the keypad and paused, before her turned his head to her. He thought for a few seconds, and then typed in a time of day. 

"Ten forty? Why are we going back so early?" Julie asked and Marty ran his hands over the wheel, squeezing it slightly as he looked over at her and leaned against his seat. 

"Trust me Julie, I have a lot of experience with time travel. The more time you have, the better chance you have at doing what you need to do and if you don't do it right and go back, to try a second time, you won't only have that thing that you want to change, but also your past self, who is trying to do the same thing that you are trying to do." He said and Julie shrugged her shoulders.

"Ok, I sort of understand that." She said, as Marty smirked, and turned, pointing to the box in the back, that had three panels going into the middle, and it was thrusting with electricity. 

"That box in the back is the flux copaciter, and it makes time travel possible. To make it work, the DeLorean has to go a certain speed, and then it will travel through time." He said, and put the car into gear, and reversed out of the Molina's driveway, and onto the street, a smile on his face that Julie couldn't read, but could tell had something behind it. Marty put on a pair of sunglasses, and put the car into gear, and held his foot on the break pedal, Julie taking the unsaid hint, and putting her seatbelt on. Marty already had his on and held the brake, the car revving up, and thrusting pulses from behind Julie and Marty became louder, and faster, brighter even, confusing Julie. 

"When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit." Marty said and hit the gas, the car speeding down the road, directly towards the entrance to Julie's neighborhood. Julie watched Marty, who looked extremely calm, for driving a speeding car, with a girl, who was very confused about what was happening, without a care in the world, like he did this every day. Julie watched as the speedometer showed the mileage getting faster and faster, until it was at 85 miles per hour, and Marty placed a palm over Julie's eyes. 

"Doing that for displacement reasons." Julie heard him say, as she heard, and felt light crack, and in an instant, Julie felt Marty take away his hand and she opened her eyes. All that was around her and Marty was dark and unfamiliar, but it was clearly LA, just not the LA that Julie knew and grew up in, but a different LA that her boys were alive in, but not for long. 

Marty opened his door, and stepped out, and into the night air, looking around their surroundings.

”Wow, this is heavy.” He said and Julie nodded, also stepping out of the DeLorean, her hands on the rim of her own door, and looked around her neighborhood, but not the way that she knew it.

”You said it McFly.” She said and Marty looked back at her, plopping back into his seat, and pulled his door down. Julie took his example, and followed, closing her own door, and facing the boy next to her.

”So, what do we do now Julie? Where do we have to go?” Marty asked and Julie knew exactly where to go. She looked at him with a very serious look on her face.

”We have to go to the Orpheum. They should be doing their sound check right now, which will give us enough time to stop them from eating the hotdogs, so that they can play the Orpheum, and live their dreams.” She said and Marty hit the gas, and they drove to the Orpheum, Julie remembering where to go, from when she went there, to perform in 2020. The two stopped the car in a random warehouse, so that nobody would find it. Julie and Marty got out of the DeLorean, and Marty handed her a pair of pliers.

”What are these for?” She asked, and watched Marty pull a knife out of the hood, and turn to her.

”Power outage, they can’t get the food if they can’t leave the Orpheum.” He said and Julie shook her head.

” No Marty, if the boys get stuck in the Orpheum, with the power out, they won’t be able to play. They only want to become legends.” Julie said and Marty sighed, and turned to her, zipping up the leather jacket, that he pulled out of the hood.

” Do you have a better idea Julie? A power outage is the only thing I can do. Unless you want to somehow sabotage the hotdog cart, so that we start a fire, do you have to think of something, or else the boys will just die, and the future will be set in stone.”He said, and Julie groaned, and gave the pliers back to Marty, who looked confused about what she was doing.

” What are you doing Julie?“ Marty asked, as Julie zipped up her sweatshirt, and took her hair out, she stuffed a lot of tens, into her pocket, before looking back at Marty. The boys raised an eyebrow at her.

” You go cut the power to the Orpheum. I’ll try and stall the boys, so that they don’t go to the hotdog cart. Hopefully, the power will only be out for an hour or so, I’ll do what I can to make sure they get on stage.“She said, and Marty smiled, and put the pliers in his jacket, and closed the hood of the car.

” Sounds like a plan Julie. I’ll meet you at the wings of the Orpheum, near the Green room. Sound good?” Marty asked, and Julie nodded. The two teenagers, left the warehouse, Marty running for the alleyways next to the Orpheum, and Julie going for the wings inside the Orpheum. She need to stall her boys, so that they wouldn’t leave the Orpheum, for Marty cut the power, and get to the hotdog cart. When Julie got to the alleyway, that attached the Orpheum to Sunset Boulevard, she was relieved to find that it was unlocked, the door that is.

She pushed her way in, and found her self in the wings of the Orpheum, by the stage, as she heard it shuffling around on the stage. Julie went out into the general part of the Orpheum, she found a bar, and a young woman with skin like hers, hair like hers, her mom. Julie was looking at the 17 year old version of her mother Rose. Before Julie had any time to be mesmerized by her mom, she heard Luke’s voice, and Reggie’s voice, Alex’s voice. Her boys, alive, on the stage, with Bobby, Trevor Wilson, goofing off together, as they set up through the night they would change their lives, just like she used to do with them, and they were in the studio.

”Holy shit, Luke, Alex, Reggie.” Julie said, as she saw her boys goofing off, as they bounced around the stage, setting up all their equipment, for the show. Julie was watching her boys, too distracted to notice that Rose was calling to her, she didn’t even notice until her mother, well her young mother, touched her on the shoulder. Julie world around, and saw her mom. She couldn’t get over how much they looked like each other, and how much she missed her mom. Rose smiled at Julie, and offered a hand to her, which Julie took instantly.

” Hi there, I’m Rose. What’s your name?“ Rosa asked, and Julie did everything she could, not to cry right then and there, and threw herself at her mother.

“I’m Julie, it’s nice to meet you Rose.“ Julie said, and Rose smiled at her, before looking up at the stage, at the boys, as she had seen Julie looking at them.

“Do you like any of them? I saw you looking at them.” Rose asked, and Julie giggled a little bit, side eyeing Luke. Rose noticed this and bumped Julie by the shoulder, looking over at Luke, he was on stage, moving an amplifier, still wearing a sleeveless shirt.

“Got your eye on the guitarist Julie?” I was asked, and Julie shook her head furiously, as she blushed to the roots of her hair. Rose turned her away, and chuckled softly. Both girls looking at each other.

“ Relax, I totally get it, he’s ridiculously hot. You choose well Chica.” Rose said, and Julie shook her head, even though her mom shook her own head, not letting Julie deny that she had a crush on Luke.

“ Oh come on Julie, you know you like him. You don’t get a lot of guys looking like that these days. I would take him while you have the chance to.” She said, as Julie looked over at Luke, Alex, and Reggie. The boys were seemingly done setting up their equipment, and now seem to be getting ready for sound check. Rose motion for Julie to fall her, and the two girls stood behind the bar, a good view, to watch the boys do sound check, and to talk.

“ So, the guitarist, have you met him before?” Rose asked, and Julie shrugged, as the boys began to play now or never, the song that Julie had brought them back to, while listening to the demo CD. She never actually heard the song go all the way through. But she wanted to what they could do.

“ No, I just know of them, I’m never seen the guitarist before tonight. He does look like an old band mate of mine though, and my good friend Marty.” Julie said, Rose smiling, as the two continue to watch the boys play sound check, Julie watching Luke Reggie and Alex, during the last time they played, before they died. It looks so alive, free, happy, Julia never seen Luke look like this before he saw her, and played with her. When the boy stop sound check, and began to congratulate themselves on their performance, Julie felt a sick feeling in her stomach, that Marty was about to cut the power.

And then it happened, the Orpheum was plunged into the pitch black, and chaos ensued in the darkness.


	4. Do I know you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marty and Julie cut the power to the Orpheum. 
> 
> Will that stop the boys from getting the street dogs?
> 
> Will the power come back on in time for them to play their show?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Julie and Luke are my life

When the Orpheum's power was cut, Julie was expecting it, but she still felt scared when it actually was cut. She was almost tempted to pull out her phone, and turn on her flashlight, but she knew that it would raise a lot of eyebrows if she did. Rose, Luke, Alex, and Reggie's voices were the only ones that Julie recognized in the Orpheum, and she tried to find where her boys were. Julie looked around, her eyes adjusting in the darkness as she heard her boys and Bobby jump down from the stage, landing in a haphazard pile on the floor. 

"Ow, Luke your elbow is in my face." Julie heard Alex moan from the floor, the guitarist groaning above the drummer.

"That's not me, that's Bobby." Luke peeped, as Julie felt a strong hand close around her wrist. She had only one idea on who it could be, and ran her other hand up Marty's arm, and to his leather jacket. She saw that people were turning on flashlights, and the staff was looking for the backeup generator, Marty holding a small light in his hand. 

"What happened? Did you deal with it?" Julie asked and Marty nodded, swinging the the knife in his hand, a smile on his face, as Julie let out a quick breath, glad that the plan was going smoothly. 

"So what do we do now?" She asked and Marty gestured to the boys, and Julie turned her head, seeing them struggle to get out of the doggy pile that all four of them were currently in. 

"We make sure that they make it out of today alive. If they die, then that's it, I can't help you anymore." Marty said and Julie nodded, as the boys managed to untangle themselves. Julie and Marty looked at each other, and Marty gestured himself going to the hotdog cart, and starting a fire, so that it would be impossible for the boys to eat the hotdogs, while Julie stayed in the powered down Orpheum, on boy-ghost babysitting duty. Julie watched Marty jog away, and then walked over to the boys, leaning down, and grabbing Luke's arm, pulling him to his feet, Reggie, Alex, and Bobby all doing the same thing, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the darkness that currently was the Orpheum. 

"Hey, are you ok?" She asked Luke, as the boy looked up, his hazel eyes making contact with hers. Their hands joined, Julie holding him, like he was about to disappear if she let go. 

"Yeah, I'm fine just fell off the stage in the outage. Are you ok?" He asked and Julie nodded, taking her hand out of his, and pushing it deep into her pocket, bouncing up and down, on the balls of her feet. 

"Yeah, just looking for my friend Marty. I don't know where he went." She said and Luke walked Julie over to the rest of Sunset Curve, Reggie and Alex talking with Bobby, the boys standing close together.   


“Hey boys, this is, wait I never caught your name?” Luke asked Julie and she looked up at the cute boy, standing next to her, as they stood with Alex, Reggie, and Bobby in front of them. 

“It’s Julie.”

Luke have her his adorable puppy face and Alex stepped foreword, and smiled at Julie.

“Alex. This is Reggie, he’s a golden retriever in human form. That’s Bobby, he’s sometimes nice, and Sleeveless Shirts over there is...” 

The drummer was cut off from his sassy, and sarcastic introductions of the band when Luke tugged at Julie’s hand and she looked away from Bobby, and up at him.

“And I’m Luke by the way.” He said and Julie smiled softly, looking into the soft hazel orbs, safe and reassuring to her. They looked like they would keep her safe from harm. 

”Nice meeting you guys, but I have to get going. Marty will be wondering where I ran off to.” She said and Luke raised an eyebrow at her.

”Who’s Marty and why do you have to leave so quickly?” He asked and Julie seemed to struggle to come up with a valid answer to Luke’s question until she got some help. 

“Hey Julie? Where are you? My flashlight battery died on me and I left the spare in the DeLorean.” Julie spun around and almost smashed her face directly into Marty McFly’s face. She put her arms up and they pressed against the familiar fabric of Marty’s jacket and his red t-shirt underneath. 

“Do I know you?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Alex a sarcastic king or what?
> 
> Who knows Marty?
> 
> We all know that Reggie is a golden retriever in human form OK?


End file.
